Manila Hemp--Coffee--Tobacco
_Hemp_ (_Musa textilis_)--referred to by some scientific
writers as _M. troglodytarum_--is a wild species of the plantain
(_M. paradisiaca_) found growing in many parts of the Philippine
Islands. It so closely resembles the _M. paradisiaca,_ which bears
the well-known and agreeable fruit--the edible banana, that only
connoisseurs can perceive the difference in the density of colour and
size of the green leaves--those of the hemp-plant being of a somewhat
darker hue, and shorter. The fibre of a number of species of _Musa_
is used for weaving, cordage, etc., in tropical countries.
This herbaceous plant seems to thrive best on an inclined plane,
for nearly all the wild hemp which I have seen has been found on
mountain slopes, even far away down the ravines. Although requiring a
considerable amount of moisture, hemp will not thrive in swampy land,
and to attain any great height it must be well shaded by other trees
more capable of bearing the sun's rays. A great depth of soil is not
indispensable for its development, as it is to be seen flourishing
in its natural state on the slopes of volcanic formation. In Albay
Province it grows on the declivities of the Mayon Volcano.
The hemp-tree in the Philippines reaches an average height of 10
feet. It is an endogenous plant, the stem of which is enclosed in
layers of half-round petioles. The hemp-fibre is extracted from these
petioles, which, when cut down, are separated into strips, five to six
inches wide, and drawn under a knife attached at one end by a hinge to
a block of wood, whilst the other end is suspended to the extremity
of a flexible stick. The bow tends to raise the knife, and a cord,
attached to the same end of the knife, and a treadle are so arranged
that by a movement of the foot the operator can bring the knife to
work on the hemp petiole with the pressure he chooses. The bast is
drawn through between the knife and the block, the operator twisting
the fibre, at each pull, around a stick of wood or his arm, whilst the
parenchymatous pulp remains on the other side of the knife. There is
no use for the pulp. The knife should be without teeth or indentations,
but nearly everywhere in Capis Province I have seen it with a slightly
serrated edge. The fibre is then spread out to dry, and afterwards
tightly packed in bales with iron or rattan hoops for shipment.
A finer fibre than the ordinary hemp is sometimes obtained in
small quantities from the specially-selected edges of the petiole,
and this material is used by the natives for weaving. The quantity
procurable is limited, and the difficulty in obtaining it consists
in the frequent breakage of the fibre whilst being drawn, due to
its comparative fragility. Its commercial value is about double
that of ordinary first-class cordage hemp. The stuff made from this
fine fibre (in Bicol dialect, _Lupis_) suits admirably for ladies'
dresses. Ordinary hemp fibre is used for the manufacture of coarse
native stuff, known in Manila as _Sinamay_, much worn by the poorer
classes of natives; large quantities of it come from Yloilo. In Panay
Island a kind of texture called _Husi_ is made of a mixture of fine
hemp (_lupis_) and pine-apple leaf fibre. Sometimes this fabric is
palmed off on foreigners as pure _pina_ stuff, but a connoisseur
can easily detect the hemp filament by the touch of the material,
there being in the hemp-fibre, as in horsehair, a certain amount of
stiffness and a tendency to spring back which, when compressed into a
ball in the hand, prevents the stuff from retaining that shape. _Pina_
fibre is soft and yielding.
Many attempts have been made to draw the hemp fibre by machinery,
but in spite of all strenuous efforts, no one has hitherto succeeded
in introducing into the hemp districts a satisfactory mechanical
apparatus. If the entire length of fibre in a strip of bast could
bear the strain of full tension, instead of having to wind it
around a cylinder (which would take the place of the operator's
hand and stick under the present system), then a machine could be
contrived to accomplish the work. Machines with cylinders to reduce
the tension have been constructed, the result being admirable so
far as the extraction of the fibre is concerned, but the cylinder
upon which the fibre coiled, as it came from under the knife, always
discoloured the material. A trial was made with a glass cylinder,
but the same inconvenience was experienced. On another occasion the
cylinder was dispensed with, and a reciprocating-motion clutch drew
the bast, running to and fro the whole length of the fibre frame,
the fibre being gripped by a pair of steel parallel bars on its
passage in one or two places, as might be necessary, to lessen the
tension. These steel bars, however, always left a transversal black
line on the filament, and diminished its marketable value. What is
desired is a machine which could be worked by one man and turn out
at least as much clean fibre as the old apparatus could with two
men. Also that the whole appliance should be portable by one man.
In 1886 the most perfect mechanical contrivance hitherto brought out
was tried in Manila by its Spanish inventor, Don Abelardo Cuesta;
it worked to the satisfaction of those who saw it, but the saving
of manual labour was so inconsiderable that the greater bulk of hemp
shipped is still extracted by the primitive process.
In September, 1905, Fray Mateo Atienza, of the Franciscan Order,
exhibited in Manila a hemp-fibre-drawing machine of his own invention,
the practical worth of which has yet to be ascertained. It is alleged
that this machine, manipulated by one man, can, in a given time, turn
out 104 per cent. more clean fibre than the old-fashioned apparatus
worked by two men.
_Musa textilis_ has been planted in British India as an experiment,
with unsatisfactory result, evidently owing to a want of knowledge
of the essential conditions of the fibre-extraction. One report
[134] says--
"The first trial at extracting the fibre failed on account of our
having no proper machine to _bruise_ the stems. We extemporized
a two-roller mill; but as it had no cog-gearing to cause both
rollers to turn together, the only one on which the handle or
crank was fixed turned, with, the result of grinding the stems
to pulp instead of simply _bruising_ them."
In the Philippines one is careful _not_ to bruise the stems, as this
would weaken the fibre and discolour it.
Another statement from British India shows that Manila hemp requires
a very special treatment. It runs thus:--
"The mode of extraction was the same as practised in the locality
with _Ambadi_ (brown hemp) and _sunn_ hemp, with the exception that
the stems were, in the first place, passed through a sugar-cane
mill which got rid of sap averaging 50 per cent. of the whole. The
stems were next rotted in water for 10 to 12 days, and afterwards
washed by hand and sun-dried. The out-turn of fibre was 1 3/4
lbs. per 100 lbs. of fresh stem, a percentage considerably higher
than the average shown in the Saidapet experiments; it was however
of bad colour and defective in strength."
If treated in the same manner in the Philippines, a similar bad result
would ensue; the pressure of mill rollers would discolour the fibre,
and the soaking with 48 per cent. of pulp, before being sun-dried,
would weaken it.
Dr. Ure, in his "Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines," p. 1,
thus describes Manila Hemp:--
"A species of fibre obtained in the Philippine Islands in
abundance. Some authorities refer these fibres to the palm-tree
known as the _Abaca_ or _Anisa textilis_. There seem indeed to be
several well-known varieties of fibre included under this name,
some so fine that they are used in the most delicate and costly
textures, mixed with fibres of the pine-apple, forming _pina_
muslins and textures equal to the best muslins of Bengal. [135]
"Of the coarser fibres, mats, cordage and sail-cloth are
made. M. Duchesne states that the well-known fibrous manufactures
of Manila have led to the manufacture of the fibres themselves,
at Paris, into many articles of furniture and dress. Their
brilliancy and strength give remarkable fitness for bonnets,
tapestry, carpets, network, hammocks, etc. The only manufactured
articles exported from the Philippine Islands, enumerated by
Thomas de Comyn, Madrid, 1820 (translated by Walton), besides a
few tanned buffalo-hides and skins, are 8,000 to 12,000 pieces
of light sail-cloth and 200,000 lbs. of assorted _Abaca_ cordage."
Manila-hemp rope is very durable; it is equally applicable to
cables and to ships' standing and running rigging, but wanting in
flexibility. [136]
Hemp-growing, with ample capital, appears to be the most lucrative
and least troublesome of all agricultural enterprises in staple
export produce in the Colony, whilst it is quite independent of the
seasons. The plant is neither affected by disease nor do insects
attack it, and the only ordinary risks appear to be hurricanes,
drought, insufficient weeding, and the ravages of the wild boar.
Planted in virgin soil, each shoot occupies, at first, a space of
20 English square feet. In the course of time, this regularity of
distribution disappears as the original plant is felled and the
suckers come up anywhere, spontaneously, from its root. The plant
requires three years to arrive at cutting maturity, or four years if
raised from the seed; most planters, however, transplant the six-month
suckers, instead of the seed, when forming a new plantation. The stem
should be cut for fibre-drawing at the flowering maturity; in no case
should it be allowed to bear fruit, as the fibre is thereby weakened,
and there is sometimes even a waste of material in the drawing,
as the accumulation of fibre with the sap at the knife is greater.
The average weight of dry fibre extracted from one plant equals
10 ounces, or say 2 per cent, of the total weight of the stem and
petioles; but as in practice there is a certain loss of petioles,
by cutting out of maturity, whilst others are allowed to rot through
negligence, the average output from a carefully-managed estate does
not exceed 3-60 cwt. per acre, or say 4 piculs per caban of land.
The length of the _bast_, ready for manipulation at the knife,
averages in Albay 6 feet 6 inches.
The weight of moisture in the wet fibre, immediately it is drawn
from the bast, averages 56 per cent. To sun-dry the fibre thoroughly,
an exposure of five hours is necessary.
The first petioles forming the outer covering, and the slender central
stem itself around which they cluster, are thrown away. Due to the
inefficient method of fibre-drawing, or rather the want of mechanical
appliances to effect the same, the waste of fibre probably amounts
to as much as 30 per cent. of the whole contained in the bast.
In sugar-cane planting, the poorer the soil is the wider the cane is
planted, whilst the hemp-plant is set out at greater space on virgin
land than on old, worked land, the reason being that the hemp-plant
in rich soil throws out a great number of shoots from the same root,
which require nourishment and serve for replanting. If space were
not left for their development, the main stem would flower before
it had reached its full height and circumference, whereas sugar-cane
is purposely choked in virgin soil to check its running too high and
dispersing the saccharine matter whilst becoming ligneous.
A great advantage to the colonist, in starting hemp-growing in virgin
forest-land, consists in the clearance requiring to be only partial,
whilst newly opened up land is preferable, as on it the young plants
will sometimes throw up as many as thirty suckers. The largest
forest-trees are intentionally left to shade the plants and young
shoots, so that only light rooting is imperatively necessary. In
cane-planting, quite the reverse is the case, ploughing and sunshine
being needful.
The great drawback to the beginner with limited capital is the
impossibility of recouping himself for his labour and recovering
profit on outlay before three years at least. After that period the
risk is small, drought being the chief calamity to be feared. The
plants being set out on high land are extremely seldom inundated, and
a conflagration could not spread far amongst green leaves and sappy
petioles. There is no special cropping season as there is in the case
of sugar-cane, which, if neglected, brings a total loss of crop; the
plants naturally do not all mature at precisely the same time, and the
fibre-extraction can be performed with little precipitation, and more
or less all the year round, although the dry season is preferable for
the sun-bleaching. If, at times, the stage of maturity be overlooked,
it only represents a percentage of loss, whilst a whole plantation
of ripe sugar-cane must all be cut with the least possible delay. No
ploughing is necessary, although the plant thrives better when weeding
is carefully attended to; no costly machinery has to be purchased
and either left to the mercy of inexperienced hands or placed under
the care of highly-paid Europeans, whilst there are few agricultural
implements and no live-stock to be maintained for field labour.
The hemp-fibre, when dry, runs a greater risk of fire than sugar,
but upon the whole, the comparative advantages of hemp cultivation
over sugar-cane planting appear to be very great.
Hemp-fibre is classified by the large provincial dealers and Manila
firms as of first, second, and third qualities. The dealers, or
_acopiadores_, in treating with the small native collectors, or
their own workpeople, take delivery of hemp under two classes only,
viz.:--first quality (_corriente_) and second quality (_colorada_),
the former being the whiter, with a beautiful silky gloss.
The difficulties with which the European hemp-cultivator has to
contend all centre to the same origin--the indolence of the native;
hence there is a continual struggle between capitalist and labourer
in the endeavour to counterbalance the native's inconstancy and
antipathy to systematic work. Left to himself, the native cuts the
plant at any period of its maturity. When he is hard pressed for a
peso or two he strips a few petioles, leaving them for days exposed
to the rain and atmosphere to soften and render easier the drawing
of the fibre, in which putrefaction has commenced. The result is
prejudicial to the dealer and the plantation owner, because the
fibre discolours. Then he passes the bast under a _toothed_ knife,
which is easy to work, and goes down to the village with his bundle of
discoloured coarse fibre with a certain amount of dried sap on it to
increase the weight. He chooses night-time for the delivery, so that
the _acopiador_ may be deceived in the colour upon which depends the
selection of quality, and in order that the fibre, absorbing the dew,
may weigh heavier. These are the tricks of the trade well known to
the native. The large dealers and plantation owners use every effort
to enforce the use of knives without teeth, so that the fibre may be
fine, perfectly clean and white, to rate as first-class; the native
opposes this on the ground that he loses in weight, whilst he is too
dull to appreciate his gain in higher value. For instance, presuming
the first quality to be quoted in Manila at a certain figure per picul
and the third quality at two pesos less, even though the first-class
basis price remained firm, the third-class price would fall as the
percentage of third-class quality in the supplies went on increasing.
Here and there are to be found hemp-plants which give a whiter fibre
than others, whilst some assert that there are three or four kinds of
hemp-plant; but in general all will yield commercial first-class hemp
(_Abaca corriente_), and if the native could be coerced to cut the
plant at maturity--draw the fibre under a toothless knife during the
same day of stripping the petioles--lodge the fibre as drawn on a clean
place, and sun-dry it on the first opportunity, then (the proprietors
and dealers positively assert) the output of third-quality need not
exceed 5 to 6 per cent. of the whole produced. In short, the question
of quality in _Abaca_ has vastly less relation to the species of the
plant than to the care taken in its extraction and manipulation.
The Chinese very actively collect parcels of hemp from the smallest
class of native owners, but they also enter into contracts which
bring discredit to the reputation of a province as a hemp-producing
district. For a small sum in cash a Chinaman acquires from a native
the right to work his plantation during a short period. Having no
proprietary interest at stake, and looking only to his immediate
gain, he indiscriminately strips plants, regardless of maturity,
and the property reverts to the small owner in a sorely dilapidated
condition. The market result is that, although the fibre drawn may be
white, it is weak, therefore dealings with the Chinese require special
scrutiny. Under the native system each labourer on an "estate" (called
in Albay Province _late_) is remunerated by receiving one-half of all
the fibre he draws; the other half belongs to the _late_ owner. The
share corresponding to the labourer is almost invariably delivered
at the same time to the employer, who purchases it at the current
local value--often at much less.
In sugar-planting, as no sugar can be hoped for until the fixed
grinding-season of the year, planters have to advance to their
workpeople during the whole twelve months in Luzon, under the
_aparcero_ system. If, after so advancing during six or eight months,
he loses half or more of his crop by natural causes, he stands a poor
chance of recovering his advances of that year. There is no such risk
in the case of hemp; when a man wants money he can work for it, and
bring in his bundle of fibre and receive his half-share value. The
few foreigners engaged in hemp-planting usually employ wage labour.
In Manila the export-houses estimate the prices of second and third
qualities by a rebate from first-class quality price. These rates
necessarily fluctuate. When the deliveries of second and third
qualities go on increasing in their proportion to the quantity of
first-class sent to the market, the rebate for lower qualities on
the basis price (first-class) is consequently augmented. If the total
supplies to Manila began to show an extraordinarily large proportionate
increase of lower qualities, these differences of prices would be made
wider, and in this manner indirect pressure is brought to bear upon the
provincial shippers to send as much first-class quality as possible.
The labour of young plant-setting in Albay Province in Spanish times
was calculated at 3 pesos per 1,000 plants; the cost of shoots 2 feet
high, for planting out, was from 50 cents to one peso per 100. However,
as proprietors were frequently cheated by natives who, having agreed
to plant out the land, did not dig holes sufficiently deep, or set
plants without roots, it became customary in Luzon to pay 10 pesos
per 100 live plants, to be counted at the time of full growth, or
say in three years, in lieu of paying for shoots and labour at the
prices stated above. The contractor, of course, lived on the estate.
In virgin soil, 2,500 plants would be set in one _pisoson_ of land
(_vide_ Albay land measure), or say 720 to each acre.
A hemp-press employing 60 men and boys should turn out 230 bales per
day. Freight by mail steamer to Manila in the year 1890 from Albay
ports beyond the San Bernardino Straits, was 50 cents per bale;
from ports west of the Straits, 37 1/2 cents per bale.
In the extraction of the fibre the natives work in couples; one man
strips the bast, whilst his companion draws it under the knife. A fair
week's work for a couple, including selection of the mature plants
and felling, would be about 300 lbs. However, the labourer is not
able to give his entire attention to fibre-drawing, for occasionally
a day has to be spent in weeding and brushwood clearance, but his
half-share interest covers this duty.
The finest quality of hemp is produced in the Islands of Leyte and
Marinduque, and in the Province of Sorsogon, especially Gubat, in
Luzon Island.
Previous to the year 1825, the quantity of hemp produced in these
Islands was insignificant; in 1840 it is said to have exceeded 8,500
tons. The _average annual_ shipment of hemp during the 20 years
preceding the American occupation, i.e., 1879-98, was 72,815 tons,
produced (annual average over that period) approximately as follows,
viz.:--in Albay and Sorsogon, 32,000 tons; in Leyte, 16,000 tons; in
Samar, 9,000 tons; in Camarines, 4,500 tons; in Mindanao, 4,000 tons;
in Cebu, 2,500 tons; in all the other districts together, 4,815 tons.
Albay Province is still the leading hemp district in the Islands. A
small quantity of low-quality hemp is produced in Capis Province
(Panay Is.); collections are also made along the south-east coast of
Negros Island from Dumaguete northwards and in the district of Mauban
[137] on the Pacific coast of Tayabas Province (Luzon Is). For figures
of Hemp Shipments, _vide_ Chap. xxxi., "Trade Statistics."
The highest Manila quotation for first-quality hemp (_corriente_)
during the years 1882 to 1896 inclusive was P17.21 1/2 per picul,
and the lowest in the same period P6.00 per picul (16 piculs = 1 ton;
2 piculs = 1 bale), whilst specially selected lots from Sorsogon and
Marinduque fetched a certain advance on these figures.
_Albay Province (local) Land Measure_
1 Topon = 16 square Brazas = 53.776 English square yards.
312 1/2 Topones = 1 Pisoson = 5,000 square Brazas.
312 1/2 Topones = 1/2 of Quinon = 2 1/2 Cabanes = 3.472 acres.
During the decade prior to the commercial depression of 1884, enormous
sums of money were lent by foreign firms and wealthy hemp-staplers to
the small producers against deliveries to be effected. But experience
proved that lending to native producers was a bad business, for,
on delivery of the produce, they expected to be again paid the full
value and pass over the sums long due. Hence, capital which might
have been employed to the mutual advantage of all concerned, was
partially withheld, and the natives complained then, as they do now,
that there is no money.
Fortunately for the Philippines, the fibre known as Manila hemp is a
speciality of the Colony, and the prospect of over-production, almost
annihilating profits to producers--as in the sugar colonies--is
at present remote, although the competition with other fibre is
severe. The chief fibre-producing countries, besides this colony,
are New Zealand, Mauritius, East Indies, Italy, Russia, North America
(sisal) and Mexico (henequen).
In 1881 the _Abaca_ plants presented to the Saigon Botanical Gardens
were flourishing during the management of Mons. Coroy, but happily for
this Colony the experiment, which was to precede the introduction
of "Manila Hemp" into French Cochin China, was abandoned, the
plants having been removed by that gentleman's successor. In 1890
"Manila Hemp" was cultivated in British North Borneo by the Labuk
Planting Company, Limited, and the fibre raised on their estates was
satisfactorily reported on by the Rope Works in Hong-Kong.
In view of the present scarcity of live-stock, hemp, which needs
no buffalo tillage, would seem to be the most hopeful crop of
the future. It will probably advance as fast as sugar cultivation
is receding, and command a good remunerative price. Moreover, as
already explained, not being distinctly a season crop as sugar is,
nor requiring expensive machinery to produce it, its cultivation is
the most recommendable to American colonists.
_Coffee_ _(Coffea arabica)_ planting was commenced in the Colony
early in the last century. Up to 1889 plantation-owners in the
Province of Batangas assured me that the trees possessed by their
grandfathers were still flourishing, whilst it is well known
that in many coffee-producing colonies the tree bears profitably
only up to the twenty-fifth year, and at the thirtieth year it is
quite exhausted. Unless something be done to revive this branch of
agriculture it seems as if coffee would soon cease to be an article
of export from these Islands. In the year 1891 the crops in Luzon
began to fall off very considerably, in a small measure due to the
trees having lost their vigour, but chiefly owing to the ravages
of a worm in the stems. In 1892-93 the best and oldest-established
plantations were almost annihilated. Nothing could be done to stop
the scourge, and several of the wealthiest coffee-owners around Lipa,
personally known to me, ploughed up their land and started sugar-cane
growing in place of coffee. In 1883 7,451 tons of coffee were shipped,
whilst in 1903 the total export did not reach four tons.
The best Philippine Coffee comes from the Provinces of Batangas,
La Laguna and Cavite (Luzon Is.), and includes a large proportion of
_caracolillo_, which is the nearest shape to the Mocha bean and the
most esteemed. The temperate mountain regions of Benguet, Bontoc,
and Lepanto (N.W. Luzon) also yield good coffee.
The most inferior Philippine coffee is produced in Mindanao Island,
and is sent up to Manila sometimes containing a quantity of rotten
beans. It consequently always fetches a lower price than Manila (i.e.,
Luzon) coffee, which is highly prized in the market.
MANILA QUOTATIONS FOR THE TWO QUALITIES
Average Prices throughout the Years
Per Picul of 133 1/3 Eng. lbs.
Manila (Luzon) Coffee
1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1890 1891
P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts.
10.25 12.00 12.68 12.00 12.17 26.14 21.47 31.00 30.50
Mindanao Coffee
1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1890 1891
P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts. P.cts.
9.30 10.00 12.00 9.87 9.56 19.50 20.34 25.80 24.40
_nom._
Quotations later than 1891 would serve no practical purpose in the
above table of comparison, as, due to the extremely small quantity
produced, almost fancy prices have ruled since that date. In 1896,
for instance, the market price ran up to P35 per picul, whilst some
small parcels exchanged hands at a figure so capriciously high that
it cannot be taken as a quotation. For figures of Coffee Shipments,
_vide_ Chap, xxxi., "Trade Statistics."
I investigated the system of coffee-growing and trading in all the
Luzon districts, and found it impossible to draw up a correct general
estimate showing the nett cost laid down in Manila market. The manner
of acquiring the produce and the conditions of purchase varied so
greatly, and were subject to so many peculiar local circumstances,
that only an approximate computation could be arrived at.
Some of the provincial collectors had plantations of their own; others
had not, whilst none of them depended entirely upon the produce of
their own trees for fulfilling the contracts in the capital.
Coffee was a much more fluctuating concern than hemp, as the
purchase-rate (although perhaps low) was determined out of season
several months before it was seen how the market would stand for the
sale of that coffee; in hemp transactions (there being practically no
season for hemp) the purchase-money need only be paid on delivery of
the produce by the labourer at rates proportionate to Manila prices,
unless the dealer be simply a speculator, in which case, having
contracted in Manila to deliver at a price, he must advance to secure
deliveries to fulfil his contract. Therefore, in coffee, a provincial
collector might lose something on the total year's transactions or he
might make an enormous profit, if he worked with his own capital. If
he borrowed the capital from Manila dealers--middlemen--as was often
the case, then he might make a fortune for his Manila friends, or he
might lose another year's interest on the borrowed funds.
In Cavite Province districts there was another way of negotiating
coffee speculations. The dealer with capital advanced at, say, 6 or 7
pesos per picul "on joint account up to Manila." The planter then bound
himself to deliver so many piculs of coffee of the next gathering,
and the difference between the advance rate and the sale price in
Manila was shared between the two, after the capitalist had deducted
the charges for transport, packing, commission in Manila, etc. All
the risk was, of course, on the part of the capitalist, for if the
crop failed the small planter had no means of refunding the advance.
On a carefully-managed plantation, a caban of land (8,000 square
Spanish yards) was calculated to yield 10.40 piculs (= 12 1/2
cwt.) of clean coffee, or, say, 9 cwt. per acre. The selling value
of a plantation, in full growth, was about P250 per caban, or, say,
P180 per acre. After 1896 this land value was merely nominal.
The trees begin to give marketable coffee in the fourth year of
growth, and flourish best in hilly districts and on highlands, where
the roots can be kept dry, and where the average temperature does
not exceed 70 deg. Fahr. _Caracolillo_ is found in greater quantities on
the highest declivities facing east, where the morning sun evaporates
the superfluous moisture of the previous night's dew.
In the Province of Cavite there appeared to be very little system in
the culture of the coffee-tree. Little care was taken in the selection
of shading-trees, and pruning was much neglected. Nevertheless,
very fine coffee was brought from the neighbourhood of Indan, Silan,
Alfonso, and Amadeo. The Batangas bean had the best reputation in
Manila; hence the Indan product was sometimes brought to that market
and sold as Batangas coffee.
In Batangas the coffee-plant is usually shaded by a tree called
_Madrecacao_ (_Gliricidia maculata_)--Tagalog, _Galedupa pungam_. On
starting a plantation this tree is placed in rows, each trunk occupying
one Spanish yard, and when it has attained two or three feet in height
the coffee-shoot is planted at each angle. Between the third and
eighth years of growth every alternate shading-tree and coffee-plant
is removed, as more space for development becomes necessary. The
coffee-plants are pruned from time to time, and on no account should
the branches be allowed to hang over and meet. Around the wealthy town
of Lipa some of the many coffee-estates were extremely well kept up,
with avenues crossing the plantations in different directions.
At the end of eight years, more or less, according to how the
quality of soil and the situation have influenced the development,
there would remain, say, about 2,400 plants in each caban of land,
or 1,728 plants per acre. Comparing this with the yield per acre,
each tree would therefore give 9.33 ounces of marketable coffee,
whilst in Peru, where the coffee-tree is planted at an elevation of
5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea-level, each tree is said to yield one
pound weight of beans.
In the Philippines the fresh ripe berries, when thoroughly sun-dried,
lose an average weight of 52 per cent. moisture.
The sun-dried berries ready for pounding (husking) give an average
of 33.70 of their weight in marketable coffee-beans.
It takes _eight_ cabanes measure (_vide_ p. 276) of fresh-picked ripe
berries to turn out _one_ picul weight of clean beans.
Owing to the fact that one year in every five gives a short crop,
due either to the nature of the plant or to climatic variations,
it pays better to collect coffee from the very small growers rather
than sink capital in large estates on the _aparcero_ system (q.v.).
The coffee-plant imperatively requires shade and moisture, and
over-pruning is prejudicial. If allowed to run to its natural height
it would grow up to 15 to 25 feet high, but it is usually kept
at 7 to 10 feet. The leaves are evergreen, very shining, oblong,
leathery, and much resemble those of the common laurel. The flowers
are small, and cluster in the axils of the leaves. They are somewhat
similar to the Spanish jasmine, and being snow-white, the effect
of a coffee plantation in bloom is delightful, whilst the odour is
fragrant. The fruit, when ripe, is of a dark scarlet colour, and the
ordinary coffee-berry contains two semi-elliptic seeds of a horny or
cartilaginous nature glued together and enveloped in a coriaceous
membrane; when this is removed each seed is found covered with a
silver-grey pellicle.
The _Caracolillo_ coffee-berry contains only one seed, with a furrow
in the direction of the long axis, which gives it the appearance of
being a geminous seed with an inclination to open out on one side.
In Arabia Felix, where coffee was first planted in the 15th century,
and its cultivation is still extensive, the collection of the fruit
is effected by spreading cloths under the trees, from which, on being
violently shaken, the ripe berries fall, and are then placed upon
mats to dry, after which the beans are pressed under a heavy roller.
In the Philippines, women and children--sometimes men--go into the
plantations with baskets and pick the berries. The fruit is then
heaped, and, in a few days, washed, so that a great portion of the
pulp is got rid of. Then the berries are dried and pounded in a mortar
to separate the inner membrane and pellicle; these are winnowed from
the clean bean, which constitutes the coffee of commerce and is sent
in bags to Manila for sale.
The Philippine plantations give only one crop yearly, whilst in the
West Indies beans of unequal ripeness are to be found during eight
months of the twelve, and in Brazil there are three annual gatherings.
The seed of the _Tobacco-plant_ (_Nicotiana tabacum_) was among the
many novelties introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish
missionaries, soon after the possession of the Colony by the Spaniards
was an accomplished fact. From this Colony it is said to have been
taken in the 16th or 17th century into the south of China, where
its use was so much abused that the sale of this so-called noxious
article was, for a long time, prohibited under penalty of death.
During the first two centuries of Spanish dominion but little direct
attention was paid to the tobacco question by the Government, who only
nominally held, but did not assert, the exclusive right of traffic in
this article. At length, in the year 1781, during the Gov.-Generalship
of Jose Basco y Vargas (a naval officer), the cultivation and sale
of tobacco was formally decreed a State monopoly, which lasted up
to the end of the year 1882. In the meantime, it became an important
item of public revenue. In 1882 the profits of the Tobacco Monopoly
amounted to half the Colony's Budget expenditure.
A few years before that date a foreign company offered to guarantee the
Budget (then about P15,000,000), in exchange for the Tobacco Monopoly,
but the proposal was not entertained, although in the same year the
Treasury deficit amounted to P2,000,000.
By Royal Decree of July 1, 1844, a contract was entered into with
the firm of O'Shea & Co., renting to them the Monopoly, but it was
suddenly rescinded. The annual profits from tobacco to the Government
at that date were about P2,500,000.
GOVERNMENT PROFIT
1840 P2,123,505
1845 2,570,679
1850 3,036,611
1855 3,721,168
1859 4,932,463
1860 over 5,000,000
1869 5,230,581
A bale of tobacco contains 4,000 leaves in 40 bundles (_manos_),
of 100 leaves each.
The classification of the deliveries depended on the districts where
the crop was raised and the length of the leaf.
The tobacco trade being also a Government concern in Spain, this
Colony was required to supply the Peninsula State Factories with
90,000 quintals (of 100 Span, lbs.) of tobacco-leaf per annum.
Government Monopoly was in force in Luzon Island only. The tobacco
districts of that island were Cagayan Valley (which comprises La
Isabela), La Union, El Abra, Ilocos Sur y Norte and Nueva Ecija. In no
other part of Luzon was tobacco-planting allowed, except for a short
period on the Caraballo range, inhabited by undomesticated mountain
tribes, upon whom prohibition would have been difficult to enforce. In
1842 the Igorrotes were allowed to plant, and, in the year 1853,
the Government collection from this source amounted to 25,000 bales
of excellent quality. The total population of these districts was,
in 1882 (the last year of Monopoly), about 785,000.
The Visayas Islands were never under the Monopoly system. The natives
there were free to raise tobacco or other crops on their land. It was
not until 1840 that tobacco-planting attracted general attention in
Visayas. Government factories or collecting-centres were established
there for classifying and storing such tobacco as the Visayos cared
to bring in for sale to the State, but they were at liberty to sell
their produce privately or in the public markets. They also disposed
of large quantities by contraband to the Luzon Island Provinces. [138]
Antique Province never yielded more tobacco than could be consumed
locally. In 1841 the Antique tobacco crop was valued at P80,000. But,
in the hope of obtaining higher prices, the enthusiastic Provincial
Governor, Manuel Iturriaga, encouraged the growers, in 1843, to
send a trial parcel to the Government collectors; it was, however,
unclassed and rejected.
Mindoro, Lucban, and Marinduque Islands produced tobacco about sixty
years ago, and in 1846 the Government established a collecting-centre
in Mindoro; but the abuses and cruelty of the officials towards the
natives, to force them to bring in their crops, almost extinguished
this class of husbandry.
During the period of Monopoly in the Luzon districts, the
production was very carefully regulated by the Home Government, by
enactments revised from time to time, called "General Instructions
for the Direction, Administration and Control of the Government
Monopolies." [139] Compulsory labour was authorized, and those natives
in the northern provinces of Luzon Island who wished to till the land
(the property of the State)--for title-deeds were almost unknown and
never applied for by the natives--were compelled to give preference to
tobacco. In fact, no other crops were allowed to be raised. Moreover,
they were not permitted peacefully to indulge their indolent nature--to
scrape up the earth and plant when and where they liked for a mere
subsistence. Each family was coerced into contracting with the
Government to raise 4,000 plants per annum, subject to a fine in the
event of failure. The planter had to deliver into the State stores
all the tobacco of his crop--not a single leaf could he reserve for
his private consumption.
Lands left uncultivated could be appropriated by the Government, who
put their own nominees to work them, and he who had come to consider
himself owner, by mere undisturbed possession, lost the usufruct and
all other rights for three years. His right to the land, in fact,
was not freehold, but tenure by villein socage.
Emigrants were sent north from the west coast Provinces of North and
South Ilocos. The first time I went up to Cagayan about 200 emigrant
families were taken on board our vessel at North Ilocos, _en route_
for the tobacco districts, and appeared to be as happy as other
natives in general. They were well supplied with food and clothing,
and comfortably lodged on their arrival at the Port of Aparri.
In the Government Regulations referred to, the old law of Charles
III., which enacted that a native could not be responsible at law
for a debt exceeding P5, was revived, and those emigrants who had
debts were only required to liquidate them out of their earnings in
the tobacco district up to that legal maximum value.
As soon as the native growers were settled on their lands their
condition was by no means an enviable one. A Nueva Ecija landowner
and tobacco-grower, in a letter to _El Liberal_ (Madrid) in 1880,
depicts the situation in the following terms:--The planter, he
says, was only allowed to smoke tobacco of his own crop inside the
aerating-sheds which were usually erected on the fields under tilth. If
he happened to be caught by a carabineer only a few steps outside the
shed with a cigar in his mouth he was fined 2 pesos--if a cigarette,
50 cents--and adding to these sums the costs of the conviction,
a cigar of his own crop came to cost him P7.37 1/2, and a cigarette
P1.87 1/2. The fines in Nueva Ecija amounted to an annual average of
P7,000 on a population of 170,000. From sunrise to sunset the native
grower was subject to domiciliary search for concealed tobacco--his
trunks, furniture, and every nook and corner of his dwelling were
ransacked. He and all his family--wife and daughters--were personally
examined: and often an irate husband, father, or brother, goaded to
indignation by the indecent humiliation of his kinswoman, would lay
hands on his bowie-knife and bring matters to a bloody crisis with
his wanton persecutors... The leaves were carefully selected, and
only such as came under classification were paid for. The rejected
bundles were not returned to the grower, but burnt--a despairing
sacrifice to the toiler! The _Cabezas de Barangay_ (_vide_ p. 223)
had, under penalty of arrest and hard labour, to see that the families
fulfilled their onerous contract. Corporal punishment, imprisonment,
and amercement resulted; of frequent occurrence were those fearful
scenes which culminated in riots such as those of Ilocos in 1807 and
1814, when many Spaniards fell victims to the natives' resentment of
their oppression.
Palpable injustice, too, was imposed by the Government with respect
to the payments. The Treasury paid loyally for many years, but as
generation succeeded generation, and the native growers' families
came to feel themselves attached to the soil they cultivated, the
Treasury, reposing on the security of this constancy, no longer
kept to the compact. The officials failed to pay with punctuality
to the growers the contracted value of the deliveries to the State
stores. They required exactitude from the native--the Government set
the example of remissness. The consequence was appalling. Instead of
money Treasury notes were given them, and speculators of the lowest
type used to scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy up this paper
at an enormous discount. The misery of the natives was so distressing,
the distrust of the Government so radicate, and the want of means of
existence so urgent, that they were wont to yield their claims for an
insignificant relative specie value. The speculators held the bonds for
realization some day; the total amount due by the Government at one
time exceeded P1,500,000. Once the Treasury was so hard-pressed for
funds that the tobacco ready in Manila for shipment to Spain had to
be sold on the spot and the 90,000 quintals could not be sent--hence
purchases of Philippine tobacco had to be made by tender in London
for the Spanish Government cigar factories.
At length, during the government of General Domingo Moriones (1877-80),
it was resolved to listen to the overwhelming complaints from the
North, and pay up to date in coin. But, to do this, Spain, always in
a state of chronic insolvency, had to resort to an abominable measure
of disloyalty. The funds of the Deposit Bank (_Caja de Depositos_)
were arbitrarily appropriated, and the deposit-notes, bearing 8 per
cent. interest per annum, held by private persons, most of whom were
Government clerks, etc., were dishonoured at due date. This gave rise
to great clamour on the part of those individuals whose term of service
had ceased (_cesantes_), and who, on their return to Spain, naturally
wished to take their accumulated savings with them. The Gov.-General
had no other recourse open to him but to reinstate them in their old
positions, on his own responsibility, pending the financial crisis
and the receipt of instructions from the Government at Madrid.
For a long time the question of abolishing the Monopoly had
been debated, and by Royal Order of May 20, 1879, a commission
was appointed to inquire into the convenience of farming out the
tobacco traffic. The natives were firmly opposed to it; they dreaded
the prospect of the provinces being overrun by a band of licensed
persecutors, and of the two evils they preferred State to private
Monopoly. Warm discussions arose for and against it through the medium
of the Manila newspapers. The "Consejo de Filipinas," in Madrid,
had given a favourable report dated May 12, 1879, and published in
the _Gaceta de Madrid_ of July 13, 1879. The clergy defeated the
proposal by the Corporations of Friars jointly presenting a Memorial
against it--and it was thenceforth abandoned. The Tobacco Monopoly
was the largest source of public revenue, hence the doubt as to the
policy of free trade and the delay in granting it. There existed a
possibility of the Treasury sustaining an immense and irretrievable
loss, for a return to Monopoly, after free trade had been allowed,
could not for a moment be thought of. It was then a safe income to
the Government, and it was feared by many that the industry, by free
labour, would considerably fall off.
As already stated, the Government Monopoly ceased on December 31,
1882, when the tobacco cultivation and trade were handed over to
private enterprise. At that date there were five Government Cigar and
Cigarette Factories, viz.:--Malabon, Arroceros, Meisig, El Fortin,
and Cavite, giving employment to about 20,000 operatives.
Up to within a year of the abolition of Monopoly, a very good smokeable
cigar could be purchased in the _estancos_ [140] from one half-penny
and upwards, but as soon as the free trade project was definitely
decided upon, the Government factories, in order to work off their
old stocks of inferior leaf, filled the _estancos_ with cigars of
the worst quality.
The Colonial Treasurer-General at the time of this reform entertained
very sanguine hopes respecting the rush which would be made for the
Government brands, and the general public were led to believe that
a scarcity of manufactured tobacco would, for some months, at least,
follow the establishment of free trade in this article. With this idea
in view, Government stocks sold at auction aroused competition and
fetched unusually high prices at the close of 1882 and the first month
of the following year, in some cases as much as 23/- per cwt. being
realized over the upset prices. However, the Treasurer-General was
carried too far in his expectations. He was unfortunately induced to
hold a large amount of Government manufactured tobacco in anticipation
of high offers, the result being an immense loss to the Treasury,
as only a part was placed, with difficulty, at low prices, and the
remainder shipped to Spain. In January, 1883, the stock of tobacco in
Government hands amounted to about 100 tons of 1881 crop, besides the
whole crop of 1882. Little by little the upset prices had to be lowered
to draw buyers. The tobacco shipped during the first six months of the
year 1883 was limited to that sold by auction out of the Government
stocks, for the Government found themselves in a dilemma with their
stores of this article, and the free export only commenced half a year
after free production was granted. On December 29, 1883, a Government
sale by auction was announced at 50 per cent. reduction on their
already low prices, but the demand was still very meagre. Finally,
in the course of 1884, the Government got rid of the bulk of their
stock, the balance being shipped to the mother country. The colonial
authorities continued to pay the ancient tobacco-tribute to Spain,
and the first contract, with this object, was made during that year
with a private company for the supply of about 2,750 tons.
During the first year of Free Trade, cigar and cigarette factories were
rapidly started in Manila and the provinces, but up to 1897 only some
eight or ten factories had improved the quality of the manufactured
article, whilst prices rose so considerably that the general public
probably lost by the reform. Cigars, like those sold in the _estancos_
in 1881, could never again be got so good for the same price, but at
higher prices much better brands were offered.
A small tax on the cigar and tobacco-leaf trade, officially announced
in August, 1883, had the beneficial effect of causing the closure of
some of the very small manufactories, and reduced the probability of
a large over-supply of an almost worthless article.
Export-houses continued to make large shipments of leaf-tobacco and
cigars until the foreign markets were glutted with Philippine tobacco
in 1883, and in the following years the export somewhat decreased. For
figures of Tobacco Leaf and Cigar Shipments, _vide_ Chap, xxxi.,
"Trade Statistics."
As to the relative quality of Philippine tobacco, there are very
divided opinions. Decidedly the best Manila cigars cannot compare
with those made from the famous leaf of the Vuelta de Abajo (Cuba),
and in the European markets they have very justly failed to meet with
the same favourable reception as the Cuban cigars generally.
During my first journey up the Cagayan River, I was told that some
years ago the Government made earnest efforts to improve the quality of
the plant by the introduction of seed from Cuba, but unfortunately it
became mixed up with that usually planted in the Philippine provinces,
and the object in view failed completely. On my renewed visit to the
tobacco districts, immediately after the abolition of monopoly, the
importance of properly manipulating the green leaf did not appear to
be thoroughly appreciated. The exact degree of fermentation was not
ascertained with the skill and perseverance necessary to turn out a
well-prepared article. Some piles which I tested were over-heated
(taking the Java system as my standard), whilst larger quantities
had been aerated so long in the shed, after cutting, that they had
lost their finest aroma.
There are many risks in tobacco-leaf trading. The leaf, during its
growth, is exposed to perforation by a worm which, if not brushed off
every morning, may spread over the whole field. Through the indolence
of the native cultivator this misfortune happens so frequently that
rarely does the Cagayan Valley tobacco contain (in the total crop of
the season) more than 10 per cent. of perfect, undamaged leaves. In
the aerating-sheds another kind of worm appears in the leaf; and,
again, after the leaves are baled or the cigars boxed, an insect
drills little holes through them--locally, it is said to be "picado."
Often in the dry season (the winter months) the tobacco-leaf,
for want of a little moisture, matures narrow, thick and gummy,
and contains an excess of nicotine, in which case it can only be
used after several years' storage. Too much rain entirely spoils
the leaf. Another obstacle to Philippine cigar manufacture is the
increasing universal demand for cigars with light-coloured wrappers,
for which hardly two per cent. of the Philippine leaf is suitable in
world competition, whilst the operative cannot handle with economy the
delicate light-coloured Sumatra wrapper. The difficulties of transport
are so great that it costs more to bring the finest tobacco-leaf from
the field to the Manila factory than it would to send it from Manila
to Europe in large parcels. The labour question is also an important
consideration, for it takes several years of daily practice for a
Filipino to turn out a first-class marketable cigar; the most skilful
operatives can earn up to P50 a month.
The best quality of Philippine tobacco is produced in the northern
provinces of Luzon Island, the choicest selections coming from Cagayan
and La Isabela. The Provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Sur y Norte,
La Union, Nueva Ecija, and even Pampanga, yield tobacco.
In the Visayas, tobacco is cultivated in Panay Island and on the east
coast of Negros Island (district of Escalante) and Cebu Island--also to
a limited extent in Mindanao. The Visaya leaf generally is inferior
in quality, particularly that of Yloilo Province, some of which,
in fact, is such rubbish that it is difficult to understand how a
profit can be expected from its cultivation. The Escalante (Negros,
E. coast) and the Barili (Cebu W. coast) tobacco seemed to me to be
the fullest flavoured and most agreeable leaf in all the Visayas.
A tobacco plantation is about as pretty as a cabbage-field.
In 1883 a company, styled The General Philippine Tobacco Company
("Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas"), formed in Spain and
financially supported by French capitalists, was established in
this Colony with a capital of L3,000,000. It gave great impulse
to the trade by soon starting with five factories and purchasing
four estates ("San Antonio," "Santa Isabel," "San Luis," and "La
Concepcion"), with buying-agents in every tobacco district. Up to
1898 the baled tobacco-leaf trade was chiefly in the hands of this
company. Little by little the company launched out into other branches
of produce-purchasing, and lost considerable sums of money in the
provinces in its unsuccessful attempt to compete with the shrewd
foreign merchants, but it is still a good going concern.
PRICES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME OF THE BEST CIGARS MANUFACTURED IN
MANILA PACKED IN BOXES READY FOR USE OR SHIPMENT.
Per Thousand. In Boxes of Per Thousand. In Boxes of
lbs. Pesos lbs. Pesos
30 500 10 17 45 50
30 200 25 17 40 50
17 150 25 12 30 50
25 125 25 16 24 50
23 70 25 12 20 100
17 60 50 16 18 100
18 50 50 4 1/2 13 100
Cigars and cigarettes are now offered for sale in every town, village,
and hamlet of the Islands, and their manufacture for the immense home
consumption (which, of cigars, is about one-third of the whole output),
and to supply the demand for export, constitutes an important branch
of trade, giving employment to thousands of operatives.